Saif: Movie stars have to be successful too!

By HT

As a star, Saif Ali Khan admits to feeling the burden of delivering successful films one after another.

“A movie star is supposed to do successful films. It’s not enough for a movie star to do films. They have to be successful as well. Someone is putting their money into it, and they expect a certain kind of a return from that star. You can have a few flops, here or there, but it cannot be the general state of things,” he explains.

“When a star is working in the film, there are expectations of financial rewards for people that are associated with the project. When they sign a star, they get that edge [over others] at the box-office. Even the audience, sometimes, looks at the star, rather than the film. It is still a star-driven industry,” Saif muses.

The actor, however, quickly goes on to stress why content must still be prioritised over anything else. “I don’t think that any star is bigger than any movie today. You look at some of the smaller films, and see how clever they are. The big-budget films, with big stars — because they might be catering to a large audience — tend to be safer, and might not be that clever. I’d love to see films where commerce is married with intelligence, like Michael Bay’s Bad Boys, which has the perfect combination,” suggests Saif.

The 47-year-old, whose has been lauded for his performance in films such as Omkara (2006), Hum Tum (2004) and Love Aaj Kal (2009), feels that realistic cinema needs the backing of stars. “I think it’s the stars’ prerogative to create cinema that is reflective of our society. I’d love to do a film like Being Cyrus (2006) or Kaalakaandi, because they are realistic, and one can relate to them,” he signs off.